Norway plans bigger peace role

MarkGreer

OLSO (CBS.MW) -- Norwegian Foreign Minister Jan Petersen met with U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell in Washington last week to discuss the countries' strained relations over the war in Iraq and that country's eventual reconstruction.

The visit represented the latest move by a country that, while a traditionally steadfast ally to the United States, disapproves of the current war and is shifting from a reluctant to an active participant in peace efforts around the globe.

Back at Petersen's Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Oslo, Tore Hattrem is excited as he takes out of his desk drawer one of the final drafts of a report. It doesn't look like much, but it means a great deal for Hattrem, an official in the ministry. The report analyses Norway's efforts at facilitating peace in civil conflicts worldwide, extrapolating lessons from what worked -- and what didn't -- in an attempt to make future diplomatic efforts more successful.

But the new report represents more than the sum total of a decade of diplomatic experience. It, like Petersen's visit, also illustrates the emergence of Norway's new role: from a happenstance and humble peace facilitator to an involved peace broker that owns an exemplary humanitarian record and isn't afraid to challenge more powerful countries.

Nobel intentions

Certainly the home of the Nobel Peace Prize has plenty of experiences to draw from, and not simply from the famous but ultimately failed 1993 Israeli-Palestinian Peace Accords. Since then, Norway has played a variety of peace-making roles in some 15 conflicts around the globe, from Guatemala to Colombia, Cyprus, Sudan and Sri Lanka. "It's a very large portfolio," said Hattrem, who worked extensively with the Sri Lanka process.

But the recent proactive approach is a marked change from Norway's traditionally reluctant tenor. The country's peace-brokering efforts date only to the Oslo Accords, (and it wasn't the first country contacted to host the talks).

Norway usually comes into these affairs through individual efforts, church groups or other non-governmental organizations, said Stein Tønnesson, director of the International Peace Research Institute in Oslo. For example, the efforts for a cease-fire between the government and rebels in Guatemala came about through the work of Petter Skauen in Norwegian Church Aid.

Even then, the government takes an unassuming "do what we can" approach. "It is striking that small Norway has been able to contribute in such a way," said Geir Lundestad, executive director of the Norwegian Nobel Committee. "Establishing peace is very difficult. It is remarkable such a small country will undertake these attempts, but we should not overestimate success."

Many in the Scandinavian country of 4.5 million people take this view and are quick to humbly mention the small size and moderate influence Norway has on international peace. But that attitude itself has proven quite the bargaining tool.

"We see ourselves as facilitators, not mediators," Hattrem said. "We won't come in with a large amount of carrots and sticks. We go into this process with a very small carrot, such as money to oil the machinery and get things done faster, and the stick is absolutely not there. We can't threaten the parties with anything."

"We come about as a small, neutral, dependable, objective country without vested interests," adds Janne Haaland Matlary, a professor of international politics at the University of Oslo.

But now those seemingly Norwegian qualities are in high demand as parties in other conflicts are looking toward Oslo for help. "The Oslo agreement combined with the peace image of Norway traditionally through the Nobel Peace Prize, and all of it went to Norway's profile," Tønnesson said. "And now when people who are engaged in conflicts around the world want to take possibilities for contacting their enemies, they always think of Norway."

"Once you prove you can do something, there is a considerable demand for it," Lundestad adds. "Now we have a reputation."

Exporting peace

In a time of international conflict, once-timid Norway has become a leading exporter of peace. How is the Nordic nation able to do it? Norway doesn't cloud itself in alliances, Matlary said, nor does it have a colonial history. It gives the perception, if not the complete reality, of objectivity through contradiction. Though voting twice to abstain joining the European Union, Norway is a leader in adding members to NATO; it opposed a war in Iraq without a U.N. Security Council resolution, but it supplied troops in the war in Afghanistan -- even dropping bombs for the first time since World War II.

"The E.U. is trying to establish a common security and defense policy, and it would have frowned upon a separate Norwegian effort," Lundestad said. "We have joined all kinds of organizations. There's a certain advantage in being a small country in these peace efforts. It's about bridge building - politicians love this word."

Two additional factors help create this image: Norway's money and social-democratic, missionary history, Matlary said. Norway's gross domestic product ranks among the best in the world, and the country isn't afraid to help out with its funds. In fact, the ministry is structured so that finances are very flexible and can be distributed to needy areas quickly, Hattrem said. Nearly 1 percent of the Norwegians gross national product goes to international aid (making Norway the world's largest per capita aid donor) and nearly 1 percent of its population has served in U.N. peacekeeping efforts.

"It is in the culture to go for some compromises, since there's a tradition of non-alignment that is seen as something that is appreciated," said Sverre Lodgaard, director of the Norwegian Institute of International Affairs. "We have seen that people that have been involved in these processes in successful ways have gotten a high status in the public domain. There could be some resonance in the culture that helps to explain this."

'Soft power'

But Norway's peace efforts are not completely altruistic affairs either. On the surface, spending time and money in far-flung corners of the globe where Norway has no apparent interest is a waste. But helping in these countries is diplomatically rewarding, Tønnesson said, and gives Norway what can be termed "soft power," a moral authority that the little country can use as a sort of influential capital in international affairs.

"When the Cold War ended, we were no longer interesting to the U.S. So what could replace it as a product? What do we get out of this do-goodism? We get access," Matlary said. "For Norway, the road for Brussels [the headquarters of the European Union] goes through places like Colombia."

This has also helped gain Norway an ear in Washington, where Norway is able to discuss national issues while working on international diplomacy. For example, Norway's involvement in Afghanistan, while controversial in Oslo, gave the Nordic nation access to the United States.

"Norway counted for something in Washington because Norway had that role in Afghanistan," Tønnesson said. "The Norwegian diplomats wanted to speak with the Americans about something that was in the Norwegian interest, such as fish or oil. It was easier because you had Afghanistan to talk about, so you could also talk about other topics in the same meeting."

"For the U.S., we have been like a useful handmaid," Lundestad added. "As a small country, we can do what the big power cannot do. We have staying power; we are resilient, money-wise and person-wise. We're thought of as 100 percent dependable in the State Department."

The support is studied, not unequivocal. Norway's recent decision not to support the U.S.-led strike in Iraq has caused some tensions that serve as a backdrop for Petersen's visit last week. Lundestad said he thinks Norway's stance on Iraq will negatively affect American-Norwegian relations, but it proves the nation of peace is willing to stand for its principles.

"Norway's choice of not supporting the war is controversial, simply because we always rallied around the U.S. automatically," Matlary said.

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